Athlete May Sue Video Game Company for Using His Image, Court Says

Submitted by Allie Grasgreen on May 22, 2013 - 3:00am

A former Rutgers University quarterback can move forward with a lawsuit against the video game company Electronic Arts Inc. after a federal appeals court on Tuesday[1] reversed a lower court’s ruling that said the First Amendment protected the company’s right to depict individual players in games. The company’s “NCAA Football” series features avatars that match individual players in height, weight, number – and in plaintiff Ryan Hart’s case, left wrist band – but not in name. While the National Collegiate Athletic Association is not a party to this case, a separate lawsuit[2] against the NCAA -- which likely won't be resolved for a few years -- charges that the association should compensate athletes for benefiting financially from their image.